Saturday Post -- 14/02/15

The best image I could find online of the below-mentioned jigsaw.
Deary me. McCartney's left nostril alone must've contained the 'Help' film
poster, the 'Revolver' album cover, and a Gretsch Duo Jet.

There haven't been too many ministry developments to report this week, but to be honest, it's just a relief that I'm even able to upload this week's scribblings. 

With many hundreds, or even thousands, of miles separating the overseas worker and loved ones back home, the importance of communications can be keenly felt. One of the fascinating aspects of the on-off relationship I've had with this unique country over 15 years has been to witness developments in this area.

Of course, back in September 2000, I didn't exactly set off for Bolivia on a cargo ship from Southampton, waving a handkerchief to a family whom I never knew when I'd see again. Things weren't that bad (though it wasn't too long ago, of course, that such a scene was perfectly normal). But the adjustments required for an 18-year-old, well into the internet age, were not insignificant. The postal service was sluggish and unreliable. My Mum sent me a Beatles jigsaw for Christmas that year, opting for land mail given the bulk of the package. It arrived some time in mid-April. My Dad kindly bought me a subscription to a weekly digest of a British newspaper, specially put together for ex-pats. The enjoyment of reading this was largely dictated by how much of the past three weeks' news I was able to forget.

Not that that was too hard, given that the only 'international' TV news source here was CNN, and the internet had only just got off to a sluggish start. A five-minute wait for pages to load was pretty much par for the course. The phrase, 'I'm going to check my email' was never so accurate (one email was about as much as you could cover in a session!).

As for phones, forget about it. Calls cost a small fortune and the line was beset with a five-second delay as standard, which proved particularly problematic one December day. That same Christmas as Jigsawgate, Dad (they really do mean well, my parents!) brought a conference phone home from his office so that the 20 or so family members jammed into my parents' house could take it in turns to wish me a happy Christmas. I got the distinct impression that Dad's good cheer extended only so far when it came to the phone bill, and I'll forever have in my head the imaginary image of him standing there by the phone, in Alex-Ferguson-pointing-at-watch mode, while I asked my Grandma what she reckoned to her new games console, and my aunt Ruth what she reckoned to United's chances of silverware. 

Two years later (the summer of Amandagate), things were picking up a little, with internet cafes more prominent and dial-up speeds picking up. It was therefore something of a surprise, when we returned seven years later in January 2010, to see just how little things had come on. The postal service was worse than ever, and broadband hadn't even taken off yet.

So it was with no small delight that we came back a few weeks ago to something of a communications revolution, with internet speeds now so fast that we could stream Netflix in high definition, and I could even watch Match of the Day on iPlayer (though like the aforementioned newspaper, the thrill in this depends greatly on staying well away from sports websites till Monday night -- ouch).

It was surely too good to be true. Wasn't it? Well, while the internet speeds have shown no sign of a decline, alas the same cannot be said of customer service, which has remained reassuringly average.

I spent half of Monday (our day off) in the offices of our service provider, as our internet had cut off around lunchtime. We assumed this was down to us using up our monthly data quota, which was surprising considering we'd arranged only a week earlier for it to be doubled. In fact, I was informed that we had almost all of our allocation remaining for the month (surprising after a week's heavy use).  The problem, they suggested, was with the modem itself. Feeling like I was trapped in a pinball machine, I then made a tour of the offices, as one person after another suggested it was the-guy-over-at-that-desk's problem.

Eventually, the problem was identified, but with a slight hitch: the repair to the modem could only be authorised by Miguel-Ángel (Fundación Totaí's president) as our modem was bought in the foundation's name, at the same time as the foundation's own unit. With closing time fast approaching, I'd have to wait till the next day to get it sorted.

On Tuesday morning, the repair was authorised, and I got the modem back. So far, so good. Except that around lunchtime of that day, FT's own modem started playing up. The next morning (Wednesday), they sent that in for a repair. Amazingly, it was the same issue!

But on Wednesday afternoon, our modem started playing up again, so I had to go back in, and was told that the line hadn't been re-registered after the repair. They apologised for this, fixed the problem, and we, at least, haven't had a problem since. But FT then came down with the same issue the following day. Having thought they'd got it fixed, their internet went down completely yesterday, and no-one has any clue what's going on any more -- least of all, the service provider, it would seem! What's more, we've been poring over the monthly receipts for the past few months, and it's looking like we were charged twice for the same period. We all now suspect there has been a mix-up in the modem payments somewhere.

So the issue needs dealt with quickly in order for FT to get its communications back up and running. The only problem is: a) everything has to be done in tow with Miguel-Ángel who, as well as being the FT president, is also the dentist -- he's busy enough as it is; and b) this weekend is Carnaval, meaning no businesses are open again till Wednesday. 

I think all concern for the quality of my writing went out of the window about three paragraphs ago. Ultimately, I think the purpose of the blog this week has been to get these frustrations off my chest, in any way possible. I guess we can only hope that, like a Christmas present from Mum, fully-functioning internet will surface some day in the future. Only please let it be more straightforward than that Beatles jigsaw. It was a photo mosaic. Those things are murder.

Prayer

• Carnaval, for the uninitiated, is the pre-Lent long weekend celebrated throughout Latin America, though it makes no attempt at all to hide its distinctly non-religious activities; the very name alludes to a celebration of all things fleshly. And all things fleshly will most certainly be indulged to the max this weekend in Trinidad. Prayer appreciated.
• As ever, the youth group will be staging their special Carnaval event this Monday, a 12-hour marathon of messy games and solid Bible teaching, with a special guest speaker coming to talk about the attributes of God, and what they mean for us. Simply for getting them out of Carnaval, the event is important, but pray for encouragement in all that the young people hear.

Praise

• We're now both into our one-on-one discipleship routine, with Amanda meeting with Adriana during the week. Give thanks for the progress already being made there.
• Craig spoke to two groups of pastors and church leaders during the week about the Langham Preaching course, and there seems to be a lot of interest in the course, which we're hoping will take place later this year.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda